C&D Technical Applications, a specialist in wheat-based technical additives, has developed a digital tool to calculate the ideal recipe for the compaction of side-streams (dust, particles and sludge) in the metal and recycling industries. The "Crespotec Compaction Optimiser" utilises only the smallest quantities of raw materials, thereby eliminating product- and time-intensive trial-and-error procedures. The software identifies the optimal quantities of wheat-based binders and water to be added to ensure the lowest possible dose. With ingredient and energy prices increasing, this provides a significant economic advantage as valuable materials can be efficiently recycled in the form of briquettes.

The software, developed in-house by C&D Technical Applications, calculates how much water and wheat-based Crespotec binder is required to optimise parameters such as firmness, cohesion, water resistance and temperature stability. It also takes into account the characteristics of the raw material mixture and compaction technology being used.

As such, the tool offers benefits such as shorter development cycles and less testing. Only about one kilogram of raw material is required for the C&D team to verify the results using a pilot plant-scale roller press. Production changes or fluctuating raw material qualities can also be accommodated.

Only by converting these side-streams into abrasion-resistant briquettes can the recycling potential of metal particles be fully exploited. Dust and splinters are light, swirl in the melt and collect in exhaust air systems. Compacting the raw materials and feeding them back into the process provides a noteworthy cost saving thanks to the digital tool.

The binders are made from natural wheat and burn with little smoke in a CO2-neutral way. This means that synthetic solutions that form harmful combustion products can be dispensed with, offering an important environmental advantage.
 

C&D Compaction Optimiser optimises briquette production

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